Thursday, March 30, 2017

Cameo was born on November 9, 2000 to Serena and Robert Beauchesne. She had a sister named Trisha and a brother named Riley. She adored playing with Riley and teaching him new things. She also enjoyed going to school, where one of her favorite things to do was read. She also really enjoyed playing with her dog, Nubble. She really liked Chinese food, but especially egg rolls. She was known for being happy and funny. She was always smiling and polite. She was also known to be a perfectionist.

On February 3, 2007, Cameo was diagnosed with an aggressive and inoperable brain tumor. Her parents had initially thought the symptoms of the tumor had been an ear infection. She had been unbalanced and a bit clumsy. Eventually, the tumor made it difficult for Cameo to walk and talk. The tumor Cameo had, brainstem glioma, is one that is considered very rare, only affecting about one hundred children per year.

Cameo's parents were given the option to give Cameo steroids to reduce swelling, which would be more comfortable for her, or give her an intensive six week long treatment of radiation therapy that may not work at all, but may help her live for up to three more years. No actual cure for this tumor has ever been found. Without the radiation, it was unknown how much longer Cameo would live, but doctors guessed it would be weeks or months. Because radiation had no guarantee at all and it was known to be uncomfortable and not a cure, her parents chose steroids to make Cameo as comfortable as possible. Nine weeks after diagnosis, Cameo passed away.

Franco was born on March 20, 2004 to Brian and Corrina Bastoni. He had a sister named Kaya. In June of 2008, Franco was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor that eventually took his life. He maintained his sweet personality and sense of humor, even as his symptoms progressed in the last few weeks of his life. He was four years old.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Marchella was born on April 3, 2006 to Carlotta Brett-Pierce and Tyrone Pierce. She and her twin sister, Miracle, were premature. Miracle passed away before Marchella did. Marchella's lungs were underdeveloped, so she spent a lot of her life in the hospital. Her family was known for their use of drugs and violence. Marchella lived in Northwood Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility. Northwood was known for medical neglect and poor care. Marchella's family were allowed to visit her there and told relatives that they received training there to care for Marchella when she would be able to come home.

Marchella's parents separated by the time Marchella was able to come home. Their relationship was argumentative and hostile, even after they broke up. In late 2009, the family was reported to a child protection agency. Carlotta had a third child, a baby boy, who tested positive for drugs. At the time, child protection services didn't know that Marchella existed, as she lived in Northwood. Carlotta was offered drug treatment, which she refused,

In February of 2010, Marchella was allowed to go home to her family. The home was a small apartment. One bedroom was used for storage, one was used for Carlotta and her two sons, and the other was used for Marchella and her grandmother, Loretta Brett. Carlotta's cousins also lived there, and they slept in the living room. Shortly after Marchella came home, Carlotta brought her back to the hospital because of issues with her breathing tube. When hospital staff tried to teach her how the tube worked and how to help her daughter with it, she refused to listen. Hospital staff placed a call to child protection services because Carlotta was acting hostile.

An agent named Damon Adams was assigned to the family. He never visited with them though, and the agency recommended, months later in May, that the case be closed. Marchella's health began to decline in the care of her family. She began to lose weight, which was especially problematic as she was already very small. At a party, Marchella's great aunt noticed that she could clearly see Marchella's bones through her skin. Even other guests questioned why Marchella was so underweight.

Shortly after 7:00 a.m. on September 2, Carlotta placed a 911 call stating that Marchella's hands were cold and she was unresponsive. Paramedics arrived, but by then, Marchella was already deceased. Police arrived at the apartment and found marijuana and cocaine inside. The apartment was dirty as well, and they discovered twine tied to Marchella's bedposts. Marchella had scarring on her ankles, showing that she had been tied to her bedposts by her ankles. Loretta, Marchella's grandmother, even admitted that Marchella was tied to her bed for a section of each day for the past few months.

Marchella was also covered in open wounds and bruises. She had been beaten by Carlotta and Loretta. There was blood on the walls as well as a video case and a belt that were used to beat Marchella. Marchella weighed only eighteen pounds, which is the normal weight for a child only seven months old. Marchella was four years old. She had been severely starved. She had only a single kernel of corn in her stomach at the time of her death. Carlotta also force-fed Marchella antihistamines because she wanted her to sleep. At the time of her death, she had the equivalent of sixty adult dosages of Claritin as well as thirty adult dosages of Benadryl in her system.

Marchella's cause of death was listed as homicide by drug poisoning, blunt force injuries, and malnutrition. Marchella's brothers were found to be healthy, but they were removed from the home and Loretta's attempts to get custody of them failed. At Marchella's funeral, her seven year old brother brought food to her. He told his foster mother that he didn't want her to be hungry again in Heaven.

Carlotta was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to thirty-two years to life in prison. Marchella's seven year old brother courageously testified that Marchella was not fed often, and that he'd seen his mother give Marchella medication to make her sleep. Loretta was sentenced to five to fifteen years in jail for manslaughter.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Pamela, called "Pammy" by many who knew her, was born on March 13, 1989. On October 12, 1999, ten year old Pamela was rollerskating outside of her home. A man in a truck jumped out, grabbed Pamela, took her into the truck and sped away. He told bystanders who had seen the incident that they would never see Pamela alive again. One of the bystanders was Pamela's sister, Penny.

A man who was about a block away from where Pamela was kidnapped heard her scream and saw people pointing at the truck as it drove away. He got in his own vehicle and followed the truck for a while. He wasn't quite sure what was happening, as it appeared like the truck had no passenger, because the abductor had handcuffed Pamela to the passenger door and was pushing her head down so she would not be visible. He followed the truck for a few miles, but eventually, the abductor managed to lose him.

Later in the evening, after Pamela had been reported as being kidnapped, a custodian and his wife saw a suspicious looking truck. His wife wrote the license plate numbed down. They called the police and reported the truck but by the time officers arrived, the truck was gone. The truck was found abandoned the next day. A police dog that had been given some of Pamela's clothing led investigators to a woman's home. The woman was the mother of a man named Keith Nelson.

Two days after Pamela went missing, a civilian spotted Keith hiding under a bridge. Keith attempted to flee but railroad workers surrounded him until officers arrived. After officers arrived an onlooker asked, "Where's the little girl?" Keith turned to an officer and said, "I know where she's at, but I'm not saying right now." The next day Pamela's body was found in a wooded area. She had been raped and then strangled to death with a wire. Semen found on Pamela's underwear was discovered to be Keith's.

A few days before Keith had abducted Pamela, he had attempted to abduct a twenty year old medical student. He handcuffed her to the car, but she refused to get inside. They fought for a bit and eventually she managed to escape. Keith was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Scott was born on June 30, 2009 to Scott Buchholz and Otty Sanchez. On the day Scott died, his aunt had called 911 reporting that Otty, her sister, had stabbed her child and that his blood was all over her bed. She asked for an ambulance. Otty could be heard during the phone call stating, "I didn't mean to do it! He told me to!" When authorities arrived they found Scott had been decapitated and otherwise mutilated as well. Otty had bitten off three of his toes and had consumed parts of his brain. Otty told first responders that the devil had made her kill her son.

Otty was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. Just six days before killing Scott, Otty had visited with a counselor and told her paranoid thoughts that other women were trying to breastfeed her baby. She had also heard voices that told her that someone was going to try and take Scott from her. In addition, she reported that she had seen the faces of other children on her child's face. The counselor thought she had postpartum psychosis, as Otty had previously suffered from depression and had been hospitalized for schizophrenia before.

The counselor told Otty she needed evaluation and called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. The counselor also called the hospital ahead of time to tell them that she thought Otty had postpartum depression and she wanted it to be taken seriously. At the hospital, however, Otty was diagnosed with hallucinations and audible voices, but not postpartum psychosis. Otty was sent home after she told hospital staff she did not feel suicidal or homicidal.

After Scott's death, Otty was charged with capital murder, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Gabreon, along with nineteen other toddlers, one of which was his sister, Peachlyn Bradley, were killed in the Oklahoma City Bombing which was carried about by a man named Timothy McVeigh. Overall, one hundred sixty-eight people were killed in the bombing. Timothy had rented a truck and filled it with explosives, parking it outside of the Alfred P. Murrah building. He claimed to do this to fight the government which he found to be tyrannical. In court he said he wanted revenge for the lives lost at the Waco barracks in Texas.

Fifteen of the children that passed away in the bombing were in the day care in the building. Timothy claimed that he hadn't known about the day care center when he planned his target, and that if he had, he might have switched his target to a different place. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2001.

Serenity was born in 2004 to Edward Brown and Paula Johnson. On the day Serenity died, Paula said she was reading a story to her. Serenity, almost two years old, was laughing at the story. According to Paula, Edward became enraged at Serenity's laughter and punched Serenity in the chest. That was all it took for Serenity to become unresponsive.

Paula said that Edward picked up Serenity, carried her into the bathroom, placed her in the bathtub, and filled it with water. He then took a knife from the kitchen and turned up music. He went back into the bathroom with the knife and instructed Paula to stay in the bedroom. Inside the bathroom, Edward cut up Serenity's body and then fed it to a dog.

An anonymous caller later told investigators that Edward had then killed the dog, hiding evidence. Serenity's disappearance wasn't noticed until much later when welfare workers visited Paula's home because her twelve year old son hadn't been attending school. Serenity was listed as having receiving public assistance, but workers saw that she was nowhere to be found.

Paula initially told them that Serenity was with her grandfather, but eventually told them what had happened. At the time this was written, I am unable to find any information about charges and/or sentencing.

Iyonna was born on July 14, 2006 to Heather Brown. At the time of Iyonna's death, Heather was dating a man named Akeem Whitfield. Iyonna passed away in a small and dirty motel room while in the care of Akeem while Heather was at work. Iyonna's four year old sister was also present at the time Iyonna passed away, but she was unharmed.

When Heather came back from work around 6:20 p.m. she discovered that Iyonna had severe injuries. Even so, Heather did not call for help until Iyonna stopped breathing. She called 911 a little before midnight. When the ambulance arrived, paramedics found Heather holding Iyonna who was unconscious and unresponsive. When Iyonna arrived at the hospital, she was pronounced dead.

Akeem told investigators that he had been cooking sausages in water and oil in a skillet when Iyonna rolled off the bed, got entangled in the wires to the electric skillet. He said this caused the hot skillet and its contents to fall on Iyonna, so he rushed over and kicked the skillet off of her. An autopsy revealed that Iyonna had three skull fractures caused by three separate hits. This could not have been caused by falling from a bed and being hit with a skillet. She had second degree burns on her buttocks, feet, legs, and genitals, as well as several bruises all over her body. Her official cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head.

Heather was charged with second degree manslaughter. Akeem was charged with second degree murder and first degree manslaughter. Akeem was convicted of second degree murder, menacing, and welfare fraud. He was sentenced to twenty-six years to life. Heather plead guilty to manslaughter and welfare fraud and was sentenced to thirteen and a half years in prison.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Aubrey was born on September 24, 2010 to Phyllis Brown and Natyyo Gray. At the time of her death, she was in the custody of her father, Natyyo Gray. Aubrey's official cause of death was internal hemorrhaging due to blunt force trauma to her abdomen, which had to have been caused by Natyyo, as he was the only one caring for Aubrey at the time she was injured.

Natyyo stated that he hadn't hurt Aubrey. He said that he had been massaging her stomach that day because he thought she was constipated and was trying to relieve the pain he believed she was feeling. When he discovered that Aubrey was unresponsive, he said that he called 911 and began performing CPR.

Some argued that the injuries on Aubrey's body, bruises to her head and abdomen, were caused before Aubrey was in Natyyo's care. However, a doctor who had seen Aubrey that day said that her death had to have occurred minutes after she was injured. Natyyo was found guilty of killing Aubrey. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Alayziah was born on May 30, 2009 to Kristi Fitzgerald and Rodney Brown. Police were called to Alayziah's home after Kristi came home to find Rodney laying face down on Alayziah's face. She said that she pushed Rodney off of Alayziah, and even then he did not wake up. Kristi said that she saw blood coming from Alayziah's eyes, nose, and mouth. This is a sign of suffocation.

Rodney was hospitalized and then jailed after Alayziah was pronounced deceased. He had been using alcohol at the time of Alayziah's death. Rodney's attorney said that Rodney had been found beside Alayziah on the bed, rather than on top of her. Alayziah's official cause of death was sudden unexplained infant death. The autopsy report noted that it may have been related to sharing a bed with an adult. Rodney was still sentenced to one year for his part of Alayziah's death,

Melissa was born on April 13, 1984. The last time Melissa was seen, she was at a holiday party around 10:00 p.m. on December 3, 1989. The party as in the same apartment complex that Melissa lived in with her mother. Melissa's mother and Melissa were about to leave the party when Melissa went to go get more potato chips before they left. Melissa was never seen again. Around eighty people were at the party.

A man named Caleb Hughes who had recently began working at the apartment complex was considered a suspect almost immediately. He was a guest at the party that day and had been seen sitting with Melissa shortly before she went missing. By the time investigators located Caleb, he had already washed the clothing he wore to the party. They tested blood stains and hair samples found in his vehicle. They found that Melissa's DNA could be connected to them, but so could the DNA of 40% of the general population.

Later tests ruled out Melissa's DNA as being connected to the blood stains, but rabbit fur that matched the fur on Melissa's coat was found in the vehicle, as were fibers that matched other pieces of her clothing. Caleb was charged and convicted of abducting Melissa. He was sentenced to fifty years in prison though he has always denied kidnapping her. Melissa has never been located, but is presumed deceased.

Erica was born on October 22, 1982. She was seven years old when she went missing near her apartment complex's playground. Her body was found in a drainage ditch near her home on the same day she went missing. Her murderer has never been found.

Trustin was three years old when he passed away. He lived with his mother, Luzmilda Blue. Luzmilda was dating a man named Lamont Hunter. Previously, Trustin had been removed from the home because Lamont had been abusing him. He was eventually returned to the home under the orders that he not be with Lamont. Even so, Trustin's mother still allowed him to see Lamont.

Trustin was so frightened of Lamont that when he saw him, he would urinate in his pants. If Trustin thought he was going to be left alone with Lamont, he would cry and shake uncontrollably. By the time Trustin passed away, he had experienced a long list of injuries including a broken finger, broken foot, broken leg, bleeding ear, and brain damage. He had also been sexually abused, leaving him with injuries including a bleeding penis and a torn anus.

On the day Trustin died, he and his sister had been left alone with Lamont while Luzmilda was at work. During the day, Lamont called Luzmilda and told her that Trustin was unconscious and unresponsive after he fell down stairs and hit his head. Trustin was taken to the hospital where he passed away. Medical examiners knew his death was not caused by a fall down stairs. They suggested that he was probably shaken or struck violently. They also found evidence that his anus had been penetrated by a sharp object.

Lamont denied having anything to do with this, but he was charged with child endangerment, rape, and aggravated murder. He was found guilty on all charges and received the death penalty.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Skye was born on September 15, 2004. She had five siblings, all older than her. She passed away in her home after suffering a broken neck. Immediately the circumstances surrounding her death were suspicious. Skye's mother had asked Skye to go downstairs that day to get something for her. Skye did as she was asked, but she never returned and her mother didn't hear any noises from downstairs, so she went down too to investigate.

When Skye's mother went downstairs, she saw Skye's twenty year old brother, Kyle Bighetty, holding her. He seemed to be in a daze. He recently had spent time in a mental health facility. When Skye's mother tried to wake her up, she was unable to. She rushed Skye to a medical treatment center where Skye was pronounced dead.

Investigators found some of Skye's blood on the mattress downstairs. They also found a list. One of the items on the list was "strangle sister" and it had a check mark next to it. It was later found that Kyle had purposefully killed Skye. He said that he had been saving her from what would happen in the future. He believed that in the future aliens would take over the planet.

Kyle told investigators he had been communicating with the aliens through notes he had written and through voices in his head. He alleged that the aliens told him that he had to kill Skye because she was going to grow up to become a prostitute, and she would be the last person alive on earth. Because of his mental illness, Kyle was deemed not legally responsible for Skye's death.

Nikki and Sammi, siblings, were born to Shahab and Hope Behzadpour. Shabab and Hope were getting a divorce. The last time they met in court regarding the divorce, the judge advised them to share custody of Nikki and Sammi on Christmas so the children would not be upset. Shabab agreed and said that he would pick up the children on Christmas morning and return them to Hope by 8:00 p.m. the same day.

Instead of returning Sammi and Nikki to their mother, Shabab crashed his car against his in-law's home. It exploded and caught fire, Shabab, Nikki, and Sammi inside. All three of them passed away. Hope had previously been worried that Shabab might kill himself as well as the children. Shabab had even told her that if she divorced him, he would "take the children to Heaven."

Hope had attempted to get orders of protection against Shabab because she thought he was a threat to her and her children. The judge denied her requests.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Owen was born on June 26, 2009 to Danielle Flannery and Kyle Barker. He had a sister named Anna. He was a happy little boy who loved spending time with his family and playing outside. He was a big fan of Batman. At the time of Owen's death, his mother, Danielle, was dating a man named Michael Milner. Before Owen's death, Michael had been accused of physically abusing Owen. This was in August of 2011.

In the 2011 incident, it was alleged that Michael had roughly spanked Owen when he caught him trying to climb out the window on the second story of the building they lived in. Danielle was at work and Michael was caring for Owen. Danielle told investigators that she didn't think Michael realized how hard he had hit Owen and that she was sure he would never intentionally harm Owen. Michael stated the same thing, saying that he felt awful about what had happened, didn't mean to hit Owen as hard as he did, and would never spank Owen again.

The incident had been reported by Danielle's mother when she noticed bruises on Owen's bottom. The children services worker that handled this incident noticed bruises on Owen's bottom as well as on his scrotum. This was documented, but investigators said that, after investigation, they determined that the spanking was not child abuse.

On July 30, 2012, Michael called 911 while he was supposed to be caring for Owen at the apartment he and Danielle shared. Danielle was not at home at the time. Michael said that Owen had fallen on a toy truck and had hit his head. He reported that Owen was no longer moving or breathing. He pleaded that he needed help to come soon. A neighbor attempted to revive Owen while Michael called 911, but Owen passed away. Medical examiners noticed all of his injuries and knew that they could not have been caused by falling on a toy truck and hitting his head. He had bruises around his head and neck.

Owen's death was ruled as a homicide, his official cause of death being multiple blunt trauma. Michael was arrested for felonious assault, child endangerment, and murder. Michael pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole. In addition, Owen's mother pleaded guilty to a charge of permitting child abuse and was sentenced to eleven years.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Takyra was born on October 30, 2007 to Shantese Banks and Paul Powell II. Those who knew Takyra remember that she was always very happy and was often laughing. On the day Takyra passed away, she was being cared for by her father, Paul, at his grandmother's home. Paul confessed that he had become frustrated with Takyra's crying, so he shook her for about ten seconds. She passed away due to shaken baby syndrome.

Paul, sixteen years old at the time, was charged with open murder, felony murder, and first degree child abuse. He faced an automatic sentence of life without parole if he was convicted of first degree murder. At the time this is posted, I am unable to find any information about the trail or sentencing. If you know this information, please feel free to tell me in the comments so I can add it to Takyra's post. Thank you.

Nateyonna was born in 2002. Her mother was named Shandrell Banks. After Nateyonna's death, it was Shandrell that was arrested. Nateyonna's death was not the first instance of abuse in her life. Nateyonna had been in the care of the state until July 2006 when she was given back to her mother. Shortly afterwards, Shandrell's brother called DFACS and said that his sister was suffering from depression and that he didn't think Nateyonna should be in her custody. He never received a call back about the information he offered.

The day before Nateyonna passed away, Shandrell brought her to the hospital. She had been severely beaten. She died at the hospital from blunt force trauma. Doctors believed that she had been abused on more than once instance. When Shandrell was interviewed about Nateyonna's death and injuries, she was very defensive and denied that she had anything to do with it. On breaks during the interview she repetitively stated that she was not a bad mother.

Eventually, Shandrell pleaded guilty to abusing and killing Nateyonna. She was sentenced to life in prison.

Dareyonne was born on January 12, 2001. He was known for being a bright and upbeat boy. He loved sports and hoped to play football for Southern University someday, and then play in the NFL. He was in second grade at school but would often stop by to talk to his first grade teacher from the previous year. Dareyonne was shot by his mother, Lavinia Banks. After she shot Dareyonne, she took him to the bathtub where she shot him again. Then she shot herself.

Investigators believe that the murder suicide was planned. Lavinia had laid out clothing on the bed that she wanted herself and Dareyonne to wear during their funerals. Dareyonne had been shot at least five times, three of which were close-range shots. Lavinia had shot her son and herself between 5:20-5:40 p.m. Eventually, Dareyonne's father and Lavinia's husband, Don Banks Jr., came home and discovered the bodies. He promptly called the police from a neighbor's phone.

It is believed that the murder-suicide may have been the result of a dispute over Don's older child. Months earlier, the police had been called to the home because of a domestic issue involving the older child. A neighbor reported that shortly before Lavinia killed herself, another little boy in the neighborhood came over and asked Lavinia if Dareyonne could come out and play. Lavinia had told the child that Dareyonne was at basketball practice.

About The Angel Project

The Angel Project is a Facebook page made to remember all children who have passed away. This blog was made to tell the stories of the children on The Angel Project to go along with the pictures of them that are posted on the Facebook page. I believe that every child who has passed away deserves to have their stories told and be remembered. Here, I have posted as much information as I can find about each child. There is not much known about some of these children, but I have still posted them so their lives can be remembered. May all of these beautiful children rest in peace.

Warning

Some of these stories may be disturbing to some readers. Disturbing photographs are never posted, but some of the children whose stories are posted here were victims of child abuse or murder. These stories are told here, just like the stories of other children. If you are sensitive to stories like this, please be cautious if you decide to read them.

Note...

To the best of my knowledge, all information published on this blog is the complete truth. If you find anything on this blog that is inaccurate, please leave a comment to tell me about it and I will fix it. This blog is here to tell the stories of each of these children. I care about every single one of these precious angels deeply, and I want their stories to be told accurately. If anything here is incorrect, it is an honest mistake on my part, and I will gladly fix it if it is brought to my attention. In addition, if you know any additional information than is posted here, please tell me in the comments and I will add it to the child's story. Thank you.

None of the photos used on this blog belong to me. If a photo on this blog is your property and you would like it to be credited to you or removed, please do not hesitate to ask and I will credit it or remove it as soon as possible. Thank you.

In addition, if you see any minor errors (typos, pictures no longer showing up, broken links, etc.) please point them out in the comment section under the post and I will correct them as well. Thank you.

About Sources

When I began this blog years ago I failed to add sources to posts after writing them. Since then, I have began listing my sources after each post and did my best to go back through my old posts and find specific websites and articles that my computer's history had documented I had used. Unfortunately, some older posts have sources I can no longer locate and some of the sources have even been deleted. I apologize for the lack of sources listed on older posts. If there is something you recognize as being from a certain source on a certain post, please inform me in the comments and I will review the post and the source and add it to the post. Thank you.